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Can a Ceiling Fan Actually Keep You Warm?

When it comes to cold weather, we depend on furnaces, heat pumps, and fireplaces to battle against the frigid Minnesota weather.

But maybe you’ve heard rumors that a ceiling fan can also help keep you warm.

It seems strange. But Is it possible?

Well, yes—and it can actually help you save some money, too.

Here’s how.

Staying warm with the reverse setting

A ceiling fan normally cools the home by pushing air down directly under the fan, creating a wind chill effect. This does not actually lower the temperature of your home. It just makes you feel cooler.

Well, ceiling fans also have an option to work in “reverse.” This circulates the hot air that has risen to the ceiling down to the floor, helping you stay warm.

Warning: Make sure the ceiling fan is working at a low speed. Otherwise it can still create a wind chill effect. However, if you have a high ceiling, you may need to run it on the medium to high setting to get the heat down to the floor.

How the ceiling fan can help you save money

Since the ceiling fan pushes down warm air from the ceiling, you won’t have to run your heat pump or furnace as much to stay warm.

This way, you can turn the thermostat down a few degrees, saving you money because ceiling fans are super cheap to use. (According to ceilingfan.com, a ceiling fan runs on only 30 watts and costs about 1 cent/hour.)

How do you turn the ceiling fan to reverse?

Typically, ceiling fans have a small switch on them somewhere to change the way the blades run. So you may need to get on a ladder to flip the switch (after turning the fan off, obviously.)

Some homes even have a switch near the fan and light switch on the wall. Who knows, maybe you turned your ceiling fan to reverse without realizing it!